September 25, 2017

Trump Keeps Tweeting About NFL Protests While Largely Ignoring Puerto Rico

The president’s attacks on athletes have been going on since Friday.

While Donald Trump dedicated his weekend Twitter activities to attacking professional athletes, North Korea, and John McCain, the president wrote nothing about Puerto Rico—even as the island continues to reel from the destruction caused by Hurricane Maria. 

The last time Trump used his Twitter account to offer words of support to the island was Wednesday, when he wrote a message directed at Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello: “We are with you and the people of Puerto Rico. Stay safe! #PRStrong.” By contrast, his Twitter tirade against NFL players who during the national anthem protest racial injustices entered its third day on Monday. 

Trump first launched his recent barrage against professional athletes on Friday during a campaign rally in Hunstville, Alabama, for Sen. Luther Strange. Trump started his speech by including Puerto Rico among a list of “communities that have recently been ravaged by storms and by floods.” He quickly descended into a highly divisive event during which he insulted NFL players who have taken a knee in protest during the national anthem.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, he’s fired’?” Trump said on Friday.

Of the 42 tweets Trump has sent since his last tweet about Puerto Rico, 14 have been about athletes, seven have been about GOP efforts to repeal Obamacare, and three have been about North Korea.

Across Puerto Rico, large populations remain without power or aid. Officials estimate it may take up to six months to restore power to the entire island. White House officials have signaled that Trump plans to visit Puerto Rico, but an official date has yet to be announced. 

Many, including Hillary Clinton, are criticizing the president’s response—or lack thereof—to the unprecedented disaster.

Meanwhile, Trump’s Twitter feed remains squarely fixated on attacking professional athletes.

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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